Choose Your Own Adventur'e: You and Hubie Brown manage Amar'e Stoudemire's minutes

Hello again, Hubie Brown taking you down the path that you chose for the guy they call Standing. Tall. And Talented, Amar'e Stoudemire. Here's a wonderful young guy. He's been through all the ups and all the downs that an NBA basketball player could go through. Ok, and the guy is a giant of a personality, and no question about it, a great ath-a-lete.

(Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports)

Ok, you've decided. You want Amar'e to settle into a starter's position. You want him playing quality minutes. You do not want to overextend the young man. You have chosen the path to the least amount of resistance, on the hardwood, to the least amount of resistance in the locker room, the least amount resistance for the front office. Now. Giving your player a set amount of minutes to produce, and the building block of confidence, from the starting role has helped Amar'e to achieve some early season success! So! You gotta ask... What. Are the goals that we set? For the guy to achieve. Ok. Well ya gotta look at what did ya need!? And of course, ok, what did we try to implement?

We're rounding the corner heading toward the New Year, 2015, ok and the season has been completed at about 30% of the way. You needed an established second leading scorer to release the pressure for Carmelo Anthony. You needed somebody to clear the defensive backboard. And you need a leader and a player who will buy in to the coach's game plan.

Now, Amar'e has established himself as the third leading scorer for the Knicks at about 14 a game. OK and he's a bear. At attacking in the painted area, by getting to the foul line or dunking the basketball and shooting at a high percentage. On the backboard, ok, he's working hard and he's giving ya about 5 a game. Not only is... Amar'e... giving ya quality production, but he's doing it in a limited amount of time between 20, to 25 minutes per game. Ok, he's making a good contribution, and more importantly the team is in games down the stretch. The knock on Amar'e is he forces the issue, and is either forcing up tough shots over the top of the defense, or turning it over against the double team.

Now. The other guy getting a good amount of minutes here, of course, is Andrea Bargnani. He's one of the highest paid players on the team, and he's coming off the bench, giving ya similar amount of production, from a numbers standpoint, ok. As Stoudemire. There are other guys fighting for minutes but the logjam up front, ok doesn't give much room for anyone to really break out of the rotation, beyond the occasional game of having the hot hand.

Now, ok, this is what I said to you earlier, is that you made the decision folks, alright, to give Stoudemire the starter's spot, and the solid minutes. So come on! The Knicks are basically a .500 team in the standings, ok, and there's still a ton a time here to go. Guys are playing together. Moving without the ball and sharing... the basketball. But they have not yet been able to put pressure on the opposing team's defense for the full 48 minutes.

Looking ahead, the team defense has suffered, ok, no matter who's on the court! The offense is still a work in progress, but alright-- it's taking shape. Amar'e wants more time on the floor, but has been a total team guy, and a gem in the locker room. And ya see, look, the Knicks are not getting it done on the defensive end, and offensively, with Carmelo, ok no matter what, you got a puncher's chance. So things are not bad. You're not out of it. But the Knicks need something to change for the better as quick as can be done, alright. Before you know it, the All Star Break and the trading deadline will be right at your door, knocking for you to come out. Ok? Ha-hahahaaaa! Come on.